A diamond of a 5-1 win at Titwood on Saturday off the back of a performance that glittered with good things showed emphatically that the Men’s 1s’ gruesome 5-0 defeat to Menzieshill last week was an arbitrary flaw rather than the beginning of a carbonised season.
Scott McCartney got things moving with a nicely judged strike from an early penalty corner. He popped up again to tap in after dazzling work by skipper Dougie Simpson and Western could even have had a third not long after had cooler heads prevailed with the Clydesdale keeper stranded. Predictably, the home side rallied and dominated possession until half-time but they were unable to score.
The second half was even in a scrappy sort of a way until Gary Maitles made it 3-0. Picking up the ball inside the 25 he went through his marker before bulleting a shot past the helpless keeper. Scott McCartney completed his hat-trick soon after. Put through one-on-one he was soon wheeling away with a smirk having coolly slipped the ball past the keeper. Dale pulled one back but Simpson was on hand to cap a captain’s performance with a well deserved goal. He robbed the right-back, drove past three defenders then played a one-two with McCartney before tapping home.
The 2s and 3s shared the points in a typically competitive club derby at Auchenhowie. Goals from Andrew Sewnauth and Alastair Scott and a reply from Simon Dick saw the 3s take an unexpected 2-1 lead in at the interval. The 2s came back in the second half and levelled things but could not find a winner as the clock ran down.
The 4s lost 11-1 as their miserable season continued.
The Women’s 1s were thrashed 9-1 at Peffermill amply demonstrating that this website knows even less about women’s hockey than it does about the men’s game.